Azerbaijan, Baku, 8 February /corr. Trend I.Alizade / The Chairs of Azerbaijan Parliament's Commissions did not accept the proposals to conduct a meeting on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement with the participation of the Azerbaijani and Armenian MPs.
"We stated that the Azerbaijani and Armenian MPs have met frequently. However, these meetings yielded no results, and therefore, a new meeting with the Armenian MPs is impossible," the Chair of Azerbaijan Parliament's Permanent Commission on Human Rights, MPs Rabiyat Aslanova, reported to Trend on 8 February.
Lord Russell Johnston, the Head of the Sub-committee on the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), met with the Heads of Azerbaijan Parliament's Commissions in the Parliament on 8 February.
The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began in 1988 due to the Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since 1992, the Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20% of Azerbaijan including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven neighbouring districts. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement which ended the active hostilities. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group ( Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding the peaceful negotiations.
In January 2005, PACE passed Resolution 1416 in connection with the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. The Resolution says that Armenia occupies Azerbaijani territories. It also contains various suggestions to settle the conflict.
Aslanova said that during the meeting in April in Strasburg, the Chairman of the Sub-committee made a proposal to hold a meeting on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement with the participation of the Azerbaijani and Armenian MPs. Johnston said that his visit was aimed at knowing the position of the sides on whether the activity of the Sub-committee on the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict would continue, as well as to study the possibility of the meeting of the Azerbaijani MPs. "We said that it is impossible to reach any results at the meeting with the Armenian MPs and holding a new meeting has no prospects," the MP said.
Johnston said that the Council of Europe is not involved in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. The visit to the region is not aimed at achieving the settlement of the conflict, but creating conditions for talks between the conflicting sides.
"We said that the Sub-committee has been established to implement the PACE resolution 1416. However, nothing has been done for it. The visits to the region and held meetings serve protracting the conflict settlement. If such situation continues, there will be no necessity to continue the activity of the Sub-committee," Aslanova said.
The Chairs of Azerbaijan Parliament's Commissions stated that no co-operation is possible between the Azerbaijani and Armenian MPs unless the Nagorno-Karabakh is settled.